Preparedness fair teaches disaster skills

When Colony High School sophomore Amanda Ham came home to find her mother collapsed on the floor one day, she knew what to do.

She said she was prepared to respond to the emergency because of the first aid, CPR and emergency preparedness training she completed through her involvement in Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program at Colony High.

Ham was one of several teenage volunteers from the officers training program and Denali Gymnastics who spent part of Saturday working at the 2010 Mat-Su Safe and Sound Preparedness Fair Saturday at Mat-Su College.

Event organizer Debra McGhan said the second annual preparedness fair depends on help from volunteers like Ham and Mads Mobley, her colleague.

“They’ve been awesome today,” McGhan said.

Ham and Mobley manned the Community Emergency Response Team booth inside Mat-Su College for part of the day. Mobley said the training program teaches people basic disaster response skills, he said.

“It’s a good way to learn stuff,” said Mobley, who is headed into the Alaska Military Youth Academy.

McGhan said North America Outdoor Institute supports the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s annual efforts to promote National Preparedness Month each September.

“Locally, it’s a joint venture with Mat-Su Search and Rescue and Mat-Su Borough Emergency Services,” she said.

The effort was also supported by dozens of other groups, such as the Mat-Su Health Foundation, Alaska Safe Boating, Alaska Fire Wise and Alaska Injury Prevention.

Volunteers organized preparedness fairs last year in September and December. And last week, a similar preparedness event was offered in Anchorage.

Garrett Streit, 8, spent part of his birthday at the Mat-Su College preparedness fair on Saturday. Children and adults were invited to work their way through 11 different obstacles, including one where Central Mat-Su firefighters showed people how to properly operate a fire extinguisher.

“It’s a hands-on learning experience that might end up saving lives,” McGhan said. “The whole goal was to give people the opportunity to think about being prepared.”

The obstacle course included booths about avalanche, earthquake and volcano response, how to start a fire without matches, wilderness survival and water safety.

Tim Grady talked people though a list of suggestions for creating a “Bug Out Bag.”

“You want to keep it packed and ready to go,” he said.

Essentials include dust mask, flashlights, sleeping bag, Swiss Army knife, zip ties, duct tape, tarps, water filter, hand warmers, camp stove with fuel, two-way radios.

“Cell phones will be one of the first things to go down in a disaster,” Grady said.

“Encourage your friends and family to be prepared.”

Wayne Groomer stopped by Grady’s booth Saturday to learn more.

“I’d recommend everybody have at least some of these items,” he said after the presentation.